Pengkhotbah 9:5

9:5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything;

they have no further reward – and even the memory of them disappears. ¹ 

Pengkhotbah 9:15

9:15 However, a poor but wise man lived in the city, ² 

and he could have delivered ³  the city by his wisdom,

but no one listened ⁴  to that poor man.

[9:5]  ¹ tn Heb “for their memory is forgotten.” The pronominal suffix is an objective genitive, “memory of them.”

[9:15]  ² tn Heb “was found in it”; the referent (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:15]  ³ tn Or “he delivered.” The verb וּמִלַּט (umillat, from מָלַט, malat, “to deliver”) is functioning either in an indicative sense (past definite action: “he delivered”) or in a modal sense (past potential: “he could have delivered”). The literal meaning of זָכַר (zakhar, “to remember”) in the following line harmonizes with the indicative: “but no one remembered that poor man [afterward].” However, the modal is supported by v. 16: “A poor man’s wisdom is despised; no one ever listens to his advice.” This approach must nuance זָכַר (“to remember”) as “[no one] listened to [that poor man].” Most translations favor the indicative approach: “he delivered” or “he saved” (KJV, RSV, NRSV, NAB, ASV, NASB, MLB, NIV); however, some adopt the modal nuance: “he might have saved” (NEB, NJPS, NASB margin).

[9:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “remembered.”